For the second time,
Played little role in ’15 Baltimore arrest, judge rules
prosecutors failed in their bid to hold Baltimore police accountable for the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. A judge cleared an officer of assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct.
BALTIMORE — Prosecutors failed for the second time in their bid to hold Baltimore police accountable for the arrest and death of Freddie Gray when an officer was acquitted Monday in the racially charged case that triggered riots a year ago.
A judge cleared Officer Edward Nero of assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct, concluding that Nero played little role in Gray’s arrest and wasn’t responsible for the failure to buckle the black man into the police van where he suffered a spinal cord injury.
Nero, who is white, was the second of six officers charged in the case to stand trial. The manslaughter case against Officer William Porter ended in a mistrial in December when the jury deadlocked. Prosecutors plan to retry him in September.
Nero’s lawyers said he and his wife and family are “elated that this nightmare is finally over.”
“The state’s attorney for Baltimore City rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, completely disregarding the facts of the case and the applicable law,” they said in a statement.
Prosecutors had no comment; they are under a gag order.
Trial No. 3 — that of van driver Caesar Goodson, who prosecutors believe is most culpable in Gray’s death — is set to begin in two weeks. He is charged with second-degree murder.
David Weinstein, a Florida attorney and former federal civil rights prosecutor who has been following the case, said the verdict will probably serve as a “wakeup call” for prosecutors.
“This speaks to the notion a lot of people had when this first happened, which is that it was a rush to judgment,” Weinstein said. “The state’s attorney was trying to balance what she had with the public outcry and call to action given the climate in Baltimore and across the U.S. concerning policing, and I think she was overreaching.”
Gray died a week after suffering a spinal injury in the back of the van while he was handcuffed and shackled but not belted in.
His death set off looting and arson that prompted authorities to declare a citywide curfew and call out the National Guard to quell unrest.
Nero, 30, waived his right to a jury trial, choosing instead to let Circuit Judge Barry Williams decide his fate. The assault charge alone carried up to 10 years in prison.
“The state’s theory has been one of recklessness and negligence,” the judge said in his ruling. “There has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur.”
Nero remains on desk duty and still faces a departmental investigation that could result in disciplinary action.
About a dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse as the verdict was read.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake noted the departmental review and pleaded for calm.
“We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion,” she said.
Gray’s family settled with the city for $6.4 million in September. An attorney for the family, Billy Murphy, said they respected the verdict, and he commended the judge for resisting “enormous pressure” and showing “tremendous courage in ruling against public opinion.”
Some legal experts said the judge’s ruling was so narrowly tailored — and the facts so different from those of the other defendants — that it provides little guidance to what could happen in the upcoming trials.
On April 12, 2015, Lt. Brian Rice was on patrol when he made eye contact with Gray, and Gray ran away. Rice called for backup, and Nero and Officer Garrett Miller responded.
According to testimony, Miller jumped off his bicycle, caught up with Gray and put him in handcuffs. Gray was placed in the back of the van, seated on the bench.
A few blocks away, the van stopped, and Rice and Miller took Gray, who police said had been kicking, screaming and shaking the van, out of the wagon, placed him in leg irons and replaced his metal cuffs with plastic ones. The officers, with Nero’s help, loaded Gray back into the van, sliding him in on his belly headfirst.
Prosecutors argued that police had no probable cause to arrest Gray, who was said to have a knife on him, a point the judge did not allow testimony about. But the judge said Nero was not involved in the arrest, so the question of whether it was improper was irrelevant.